


How About Forever?

by Midorisakura (Calacious)



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fix-It of Sorts, Holidays, Kissing, M/M, Post-Divorce, Some pining, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 22:04:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13109412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calacious/pseuds/Midorisakura
Summary: It's been a year since Joseph and Mary's divorce, and Joseph is struggling. Between his work as a youth pastor and being a single father to four children under the age of ten, he has zero time for himself. Cassidy misses the man that he'd fallen in love with, but knows that it's not up to him to make the first move.





	How About Forever?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cricket_aria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cricket_aria/gifts).



> Merry Christmas.

It's been almost a year since the divorce, and Joseph is busy with work and being a single dad to four kids, all under the age of ten. Cassidy wants to stop by for a visit, but always hesitates on the front step and moves on to his empty house.

Being an empty nester isn't all that it's cracked up to be and he still hasn't gotten the puppy that he'd told Amanda he'd get to keep him company while she's away at college. She'll be coming home for Christmas soon enough anyway.

The divorce was amicable, Joseph had told him. There were no hard feelings between Joseph and Mary. Cassidy envies them the clean break. He misses his better half keenly. There'd been no goodbye for him and Amanda.

Joseph and Mary had been trapped in a loveless marriage long enough, by anyone's standards, and something had to give. Cassidy feels like he was the straw that broke the camel's back, though he knows that the end of Joseph and Mary's marriage had happened well before his arrival in the cul-de-sac, and before they'd filed for divorce.

It was clear when Cassidy had first moved in that Joseph and Mary's marriage was circling the drain, and that it was only a matter of time before they split.

Cassidy doesn't know whether or not to be proud that he's a homewrecker, though he doubts there was much left for him to wreck when he'd first started seeing Joseph. He's happy for them, though, because Mary has moved on. She and Robert have started a business of their own, and she's no longer drinking herself into an early grave. She's even a little less sarcastic when they see each other.

Cassidy supposes that he should move on, but it's hard. He'd really fallen for Joseph, and had started to dream about a possible future with him.

Resigning himself to single-hood, at least for the time being, Cassidy starts to get the house ready for Amanda's three week long visit. They have an artificial tree. It's been in the family for almost a decade and is still in decent shape (it stands up without much coaxing, and stays standing, mostly). He'll wait to add the ornaments for when Amanda is home. That's the part she likes best.

There are cookies to bake, and presents to wrap. Cassidy busies himself with holiday preparations, trying not to think about Joseph. It works, kind of.

Joseph comes over a couple of days before Amanda's supposed to return home for winter break-- frazzled, out of breath, flour dusting the front of his wrinkled shirt, a pudgy, red-faced toddler wriggling in his arms. He doesn't bother to knock. He just bursts into Cassidy's house, and stands there, trying to catch his breath, and keep hold of the struggling child.

"Joseph?" Cassidy stands up from the couch, hits pause on the game show that he'd been watching. He hadn't been able to follow it anyway. Something about identifying the correct cryptid before the timer went off and the player's partner was doused with sprinkles and whipped topping, or electrocuted...

"Help," Joseph says, and he pushes the red-faced toddler toward Cassidy.

It's been awhile since Cassidy has handled a toddler, and at first he holds the kid, who has thankfully stopped wriggling long enough to gaze at him curiously, at arm's length and just stares back at him.

"Uh, hello, uh, Crish?" Cassidy fumbles with the name, and with the toddler who's started to fuss and wriggle in his arms, even though he's not longer being held stiffly because Cassidy has finally recalled how he'd held Amanda all those years ago, one hand supporting the butt, and the other the back. He misses his little girl and is happy that she'll be home in a few days.

Joseph smiles at Cassidy, heart shining in his eyes at the remembered name, and he drags a shaky hand through his hair, streaking it with flour. It makes him look absolutely ridiculous and is more than just a little endearing.

"Thanks," he says. "It's the Christmas bake sale and I can't get Crish to settle down, or stay out of the flour, and the twins are being..." He stops mid-sentence and waggles his hand in a vague gesture that Cassidy is familiar with.

"Twin Peaks-esque?" Cassidy guesses.

"No." Joseph smiles wryly and shakes his head. He points at you and says, "Try Children of the Corn meets The Shining."

"That bad?" Cassidy asks, trying not to laugh, knowing that Joseph will not appreciate it right now. Secretly, he's proud of the twins for remembering what he'd taught them a little over a year ago. It's cute, though he doubts that Joseph will agree, at least not right now.

Joseph nods, eyes going a little wide as a shudder runs through his body. "That bad," he says. "Actually, it's worse. Chris' decided to join them in their creepiness. I don't want Crish to be corrupted by his brothers and sisters, that's why I brought him here."

Part of Cassidy wants to remind Joseph who his children learned about those movies from, but self-preservation kicks in and he nods. "I'll keep an eye on Crish while you corral the others. You want me to come over and help?"

Joseph shakes his head, a determined look on his face as he walks out the door, ready to take on double duty of twins and baking. "It's a dirty business, but someone's got to do it, and that someone is me," he says, lips in a firm line.

Crish reaches out for his daddy, lips trembling, big blue eyes welling with tears when Joseph doesn't even look back as he slams the door shut behind him.

Sensing an eruption, Cassidy turns Crish so that the little boy is facing him, and starts making funny faces, bouncing the boy in his arms and making him 'fly' through the air. It had always worked with Amanda, and he's delighted to find that it works with the little boy, who looks so much like his father that it's almost like he's been cloned. Cassidy quickly derails that train of thought, no need to add even more creepiness to an already creepy day.

Exhausted after a few minutes of making Crish fly through the air like Superman, Cassidy looks around for other distractions, and wonders if his living room floor is clean enough for the little tyke. He highly doubts it. There are remnants of the nachos that he'd had for dinner last night, cookie crumbs, and what looks like crusted cheese on the floor, and then there are the wood chips that he'd never bothered cleaning up from when Robert had come over to give him another lesson in wood carving. He'd successfully carved a headless duck, and was hoping to carve a wooden horse for Amanda during his next lesson with Robert. If he's successful, he'll dub it Sir Horsington the Brave II.

"Looks like I've really let my place go since Amanda left," Cassidy says in a silly voice that is filled with far more excitement than the situation warrants. "Doesn't it? Oh, yes it does."

Crish laughs and claps his hands. He blows a raspberry and then plants a big sloppy kiss on Cassidy's cheek.

Cassidy's heart fills with love and affection. He never realized how much he missed Amanda's younger years until just now.

"You look just like your Daddy, don't you little fellow?" he asks in that same sing-song voice.

"Ga ga ga ga ga," Crish says in a serious tone of voice.

"Da da da da da." He jabs at Cassidy with a stubby little finger. "Ga ga ga ga goo goo ba."

Cassidy used to be fluent in toddler speak, but he's rusty and has a hard time deciphering what it is that Crish is saying. The little boy repeats himself a few times, and then gives up. He sighs heavily, a sad, disappointed look in his eyes that Cassidy hasn't figured out what he's saying.

With another sigh, Crish sticks his thumb in his mouth, lays his head on Cassidy's chest and starts rocking and humming to himself. He tucks his head under Cassidy's chin, reaches a chubby hand up to grasp a lock of Cassidy's hair, rubbing it between his fingers and lets out a breath of air that ghosts across Cassidy's collarbone.

This, Cassidy is very familiar with, and he takes a seat in his old, beat up rocking recliner, the one that he'd refused to let Amanda veto on their move to the cul-de-sac. He'd gotten it shortly before Amanda had been brought home, and he'd rocked her to sleep countless times on it. She'd been a fussy baby, but it only took a few minutes rocking with her Daddy, and she'd be fast asleep.

Falling into old patterns, Cassidy starts rocking. Leaning back in the chair, he rubs Crish's back just the way that he'd rubbed Amanda's a little over eighteen years ago. He starts singing the lullaby that he'd sung to his little girl, the one she sometimes hummed to herself even now, and Crish's breathing starts evening out, his eyes droop, and he goes boneless and heavy in Cassidy's arms.

With a yawn, Cassidy tilts the recliner back and extends the footrest. Still rubbing Crish's back, he closes his eyes and falls into a light slumber, idly thinking about the battle that Joseph is facing with his Christie, Christian, Chris, and brownie batter. He wonders who will claim the ultimate victory, and if Joseph's brownies will turn out as well as they had last year, if he'll get to taste one.

When Joseph returns -- twins and Chris in tow and a pan of freshly baked brownies in hand -- a few hours later, Cassidy and Crish are still zonked out on the recliner. Both are lightly snoring. Little Crish's hand is tightly gripping a fistful of Cassidy's hair, and he's got a look of contentment on his little cherub-like face.

Momentarily overwhelmed by the sight before him, and the feelings that it conjures, Joseph hands the pan of brownies off to his eldest. He fishes his phone out of his pocket and quickly snaps a few photos of the sleeping pair before he presses his lips, first to his son's plump cheek, then to Cassidy's lips, waking him.

Cassidy vaguely registers the sound of a few giggles as he slowly wakes, the familiar weight of a child sleeping in his arms, and a pair of beautiful eyes smiling down at him. Another kiss, and he's fully awake.

"What was that for?" he asks, groggily, rubbing at his face, hoping that his hand won't come back wet with drool.

Hearts in his eyes, Joseph simply presses another kiss to Cassidy's lips.

"I could just fall into your eyes," he whispers, and then blushes and clears his throat. "I mean, thank you. You know, for taking care of Crish for me."

"Anytime," Cassidy says, straightening the chair while trying not to jostle Crish too much. He doesn't know how long they've been out, how long Crish normally naps for. He remembers that waking Amanda too early from a nap would lead to full on tantrums, and wants to avoid that with Crish.

"How about --"

"Ga ga ga goo," Crish says sleepily, patting Cassidy's chest and blinking as he wakes from his nap. There's a happy smile on his face, and Cassidy can't help but return it.

Joseph and Cassidy break out into laughter, heart-filled gazes locked. Crish laughs too, and one of the older kids says something that sounds a little like, "Come on already," but Cassidy can't be certain.

"What he said," Joseph says, cupping Cassidy's cheek and leaning in for a toe curling kiss that leaves no doubt in Cassidy's mind that Crish said something along the lines of:  _ How about, forever? _


End file.
